Residential Development Control System (RDCS) Update

On July 27, 2016 the City Council adopted Resolution No. 16-129, placing the RDCS Update Ordinance, amending Chapter 18.78 of the Morgan Hill Municipal Code and the Morgan Hill 2035 General Plan, on the November 2016 General Election ballot.

On November 8, 2016 voters approved Measure S, extending the City's Residential Development Control System (RDCS) to the year 2035, establishing a population ceiling of 58,200, with a slower rate of growth than currently exists, and improving policies to maintain neighborhood character, encourage more efficient land use, conserve water, and preserve open space.

The updated RDCS (Measure S) represents a departure from a system that has historically been focused on achieving a certain population, to a system where the focus is shifted to establishing a maximum number of annual allotments that would not be exceeded and can only be reduced. Furthermore, if the number of allotments is reduced in a given year, they cannot be added to a future year. The population limit, which is a ceiling and not a target, is then a function of the maximum number of allotments.

The RDCS Ordinance reflects the efforts of the RDCS Update Working Group, which met 11 times between May and October 2015 and again in April 2016, and of the Planning Commission, which met 10 times between February and June 2016 (5 workshops, 2 study sessions, 1 check-in meeting, and 2 public hearings).

Competition Manual

The RDCS requires the City Council to adopt and maintain an RDCS Competition Manual that establishes criteria and point values that the City will use to award residential allotments to competing projects. The Competition Manual will also serve as the official City Council Policy document for implementation of the RDCS.

Between October 11, 2016 and April 25, 2017, the Planning Commission held 20 public workshops regarding the development of the Competition Manual. On April 25, 2017, the Planning Commission unanimously recommended the City Council adopt the Competition Manual. The City Council held a workshop on RDCS processing and procedural questions and a public hearing on adoption of the Competition Manual on May 17, 2017 (link to City Council Agenda). On May 24, 2017 the City Council introduced and on June 7, 2017 adopted Ordinance No. 2248 approving Section III - Competition Criteria, Standards, and Points of the RDCS Competition Manual. The City Council is scheduled to consider Sections I, II, and IV of the Competition Manual at a public hearing on June 21, 2017.